The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]

Chapter 1023: For You

Apparently, being absolutely dumbfounded didn’t always equate to simply being speechless.

But at the same time, not being speechless didn’t particularly translate to being eloquent enough to explain the odd sounds coming out of his mouth.

Yeah.

Oliver Astrea Mylor, the very much not-single young man who had just mingled his way into receiving a once-in-a-lifetime proposal, was currently responding in squeaks.

Uh-huh. Literal squeaks.

"K-Ky—squeak!"

Ollie’s eyes went wide.

He paused, swallowed hard, and tried to force his brain to send a real word to his tongue.

"I mean—squeak!"

He was trying.

He really was.

But for some reason, the words he wanted to say refused to come out. Instead, all that escaped him were high-pitched sounds that made him sound like a panicked hamster.

Both of them were caught off guard the first time it happened, but as Ollie tried to respond again, he only ended up with another high-pitched squeak and flailing arms in his panic.

"!!!"

Meanwhile, the sensible Kyle Nox, who had just finished pouring his heart out, blinked at his mop.

In fairness to the adjutant, he, too, tried his best. His lips pressed together. His expression stayed composed. He even turned his head slightly, still looking like the calm, dangerously put-together man he always was.

But then he made the mistake of glancing again.

And inevitably saw his little star’s trembling eyes.

That frantic and flushed face.

And finally, the unthinkable heart sign that his mop was forming with his fingers.

Was that supposed to be Ollie’s response?

"..."

"..."

Of course, any and all responses mattered to him. But it wouldn’t be easy to concentrate for the man who had just lost it.

A breath slipped out.

"Pftt—!"

Then another.

And before he knew it, he was laughing.

Kyle burst into resigned laughter, unable to help himself.

Too earnest.

Too thoughtful.

Just too unfairly cute.

How does he even think of such things?

"HA...HAHA!"

"?!"

The suddenly enraged blonde, who had been so concerned about not being able to respond and causing unintended misunderstandings, puffed his cheeks in indignation.

He had been completely serious about this. He had practically been fighting for his life and his relationship, yet Kyle was just there, laughing at his predicament!

Ollie took a deep breath, preparing for a long, serious exhale to reset his system. But everything he’d stored went out the moment the man before him turned into a beast.

Wha—

Kyle’s gaze shifted.

They were the same ones he saw every day, and yet the little critter felt like he would get devoured. Worse, it was so intense that he felt like asking to be devoured.

Hup!

However, what followed such a look sent a jolt of utter surprise through the blonde.

Of all the things that could have happened, he didn’t expect Kyle to catch his puffed-out cheek in a big bite.

Chomp.

"!"

Well, it wasn’t like the normally reasonable prospective husband expected to be taken captive by those perfectly round and soft cheeks.

Definitely not. And so the ever-so composed Kyle didn’t think he’d end up feeling compelled to lightly and playfully bite into one.

"!!!"

Definitely impossible...

Then again, what really had the red star hitching his breath wasn’t even their extreme proximity.

Or those lips on his cheek, or the teeth and tongue that had grazed him ever so slightly.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t even how his body was caged in by those glorious arms and that extremely solid chest.

Gulp!

Sure, they were likely a big factor. But what really caused the heat to grip his neck was the barely audible muttering of his certified beast.

"Really, how can I not love you like this?"

__

"WAAAAAH!"

The elevator doors had barely closed when Ollie started.

"Others eat like t-that, but you!" he pointed, his whole body shaking in adorable outrage. "Y-you eat me like this?!"

Kyle, the subject of the blonde’s ranting, glanced at him.

He maintained a composed and languid stance, looking completely innocent as if he hadn’t done something nefarious earlier.

"Do you really want a future with me?!" Ollie continued, clutching his chest. "If you eat me like this, how can we even make it to next week?!"

Unable to keep a straight face after hearing that, said gluttonous Kyle raised a brow.

"That?" he repeated, a faint teasing curve on his lips. "What exactly do you mean by ’that’?"

"...!"

Ollie froze.

Because now that he thought about it, what did he mean by that?

The waiting tower tilted his head, watching him closely. "I’m curious. Just what kind of way were others eating that made mine seem so terribly wrong?"

The meaning hit, albeit ever-so delayed.

Ollie ended up looking away, his ears turning red as he tried very hard not to answer.

But unfortunately, the respectful—scratch that, the shameless—adjutant did not let him escape.

"Well," he said lightly, "if you permit it, I could do the same to you. Then you can see if you like that better."

"...Or do you not want to?"

Ollie’s lower lip jutted out as his boyfriend’s voice deepened as he asked.

Bah!

Of course, he wanted to!

How could he not want to?!

But at the same time, he had just been chomped to within an inch of his life (not), and worse, he had missed the perfect chance to respond to the proposal.

The injustice of it all.

However, unbeknownst to the blonde—who looked far too healthy to claim he’d been devoured just yet—Kyle hadn’t really been expecting a response.

Not when he hadn’t even proposed with the ring to begin with.

But since implying things wouldn’t work for his little star, Kyle needed to show his cards while making sure Ollie was completely aware of his motives.

He had spelled out his purpose before even beginning. Now, it was time to earnestly apply for the position, and he was going to start with this.

"Kyle," Ollie said, his voice quieter now. "Where are we really going?"

Ding!

The elevator chimed, and the doors slid open to what seemed to be the top floor.

Kyle stepped out first.

"Here," Kyle said, gesturing for him to step out. "I wanted to bring you to the first home I personally owned."

"...What?"

The mop decided to do as told, only to stop in curiosity.

The hallway stretched wide, with high ceilings and clean lines. It was quiet. Spacious.

And the blonde noticed that there were only four doors.

"...?"

"This was the first place I bought using the money I earned while working under that guy," he explained.

He gestured around them.

"It’s not much. And definitely isn’t a detached manor like we’re used to..."

Ollie looked again.

Not much?

This?

Right in the middle of the capital?

Kyle continued as if it were nothing.

"But out of all the places I own, excluding those in trust and managed by House Nox, I figured you’d like this one the most."

He pointed toward another door.

"Because that one is now likely owned by your good brother."

"HUH?! My brother? Luca?!"

Kyle nodded, thankful that he understood his little star’s mind to a degree.

"Yes. That one belongs to the Captain. And since they’re married, it belongs to Luca as well."

Ollie blinked.

His mind went blank.

"The other door is Jax’s," Kyle added. "The last one is a command center."

Then he turned and pointed at the door in front of them.

"And this one is mine."

His voice remained even and only turned honeyed when he leaned down to whisper into the blonde’s already sensitive ears.

"One among all the rest that I hope to offer to my future Oliver Nox."

A small pause.

"To someone who once said that all he wanted was to live as close as possible to his brother."

Woosh!

The door unlocked.

It opened slowly in the stunned woodland creature’s eyes.

Ollie stood there, facing an even bigger walkway, as lights began to turn on as if welcoming them.

His breath hitched.

While he’d personally seen a list of mines under Kyle and several other properties on the tablets he was asked to check, he felt this one had had the greatest impact.

Not because of the price, location, or interior, but because Kyle remembered his selfish and unreasonable wish, which had become even more impossible due to the fact that his brother was married to the Imperial Crown Prince.

Kyle didn’t think his dream was ridiculous.

But then his boyfriend—the man that he was—suddenly said, "While this is definitely not close to an area with flowerbeds and expansive grass. We can definitely have the shutters painted red or put in white picket fences around the garden."

"Then again, we could always look for another property that would be closer to the one you said you once envisioned."

"Worst case scenario, we can renovate my cabin back at the space for something even closer to your ideal living situation."

"I’m not sure about the chickens that don’t bite, but at the very least, I could get you soft, round cows that moo with love."

"I can wear an apron and feed you with food I made with my very own hands, and work so that you wouldn’t have to."

"...I may not be able to bring you the world under your feet because that’s treason, but in my own capacity, I will make sure that you’ll at least like the world we’ll live in."

Kyle spoke about it like a simple pledge. And to many ears it would sound like sweet notings.

But to the youngest member of House Nox and a future (and, honestly, current) pillar of the Empire, it meant cleaning house, both internally and externally.

He was probably going to break his back doing all of it, but he figured it wouldn’t be as bad as when he was simply doing things out of a sense of duty.

If he were doing it for his little star, then so be it.

Meanwhile, those words uttered softly permeated every pore of the stunned blonde.

Ollie’s face burned just as fiercely as his intensely beating heart.

And he seriously felt that the only thing that would allow him a sense of comfort and satisfaction was to say the following words.

"Kyle—"

"W-where do I sign?!"